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Nuclear power: The ultimate near shore threat to the Great Lakes?
“I hope you rethink your really scary plan to bury radioactive waste located only half a mile from Lake Huron…”That’s a concerned citizen responding to a Canadian nuclear power company’s proposal to...
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New potentially toxic algae turns up on Great Lakes beach
A new species is apparently making its way onto Great Lakes beaches, and it is potentially toxic.Native to the southeastern United States, it is a blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, called Lyngbya...
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The Grand Calumet River’s road to recovery
The sediment on the bottom of the Grand Calumet River in Northwest Indiana provides a toxic record of the region’s history going back more than a century.It is full of chemicals, heavy metals and other...
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Grand Calumet River delivers toxic load to Lake Michigan
The Grand Calumet River system winds for 13 miles through a Northwest Indiana industrial landscape that could almost be described as post-apocalyptic.Alongside the several branches of the slow-moving...
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New study finds Asian carp DNA in Chicago waterways
The advance of the so-called Asian carp (the term can refer to many species of carp, but in Illinois it typically refers to bighead carp and silver carp) has long prompted worries that the fish will...
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Asian carp might have entered lakes, but so what?
New evidence suggesting Asian carp may already be in the Great Lakes basin has renewed fears that the invasive species could pose an existential threat to the area’s lucrative fishing industry.“The...
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Heavy rain overwhelms combined sewer system
Inundated by nearly 5 inches of rain in less than 36 hours, Chicago water officials have had to "re-reverse" the flow of the Chicago River, opening the large gates that separate Lake Michigan from the...
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Gov. Pat Quinn open to Great Lakes, Mississippi basin separation
In the perennial battle to keep Asian carp and other riverborne invaders out of the Great Lakes, one intervention is often proposed as the only long-term solution: separate the Mississippi River and...
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Deep cuts proposed to funding for Great Lakes
A U.S. house subcommittee proposed a bill that would reduce the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative budget from $285 million dollars to just $60 million, a nearly 80% cut.“When we first saw these...
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Feds update plan to protect Great Lakes from carp
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — A federal plan for keeping hungry Asian carp from reaching the valuable fish populations of the Great Lakes calls for reinforcing electrical and other barriers currently in place...
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Have your say: Lake Michigan vs. Chicago River
Editor's note: Reporter Chris Bentley provided question-asker Devon Neff and his friend, Abby Ristow, with some homework; the idea was that reporting and insightful interviews could settle the pair's...
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Great Lakes brace for more toxic algae
Update, August 4, 2014, 11:30a.m.: Officials are scrambling to address a growing algae bloom in Lake Erie that threatens the water supply of hundreds of thousands of people in parts of Michigan and...
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Morning Shift: How climate change is affecting the Great Lakes
We delve into a new report on the effects of climate change on the Great Lakes. Plus, what to consider as you break out the grill for the start of grilling season, and an exhibit dedicated to the music...
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Drought drives drilling frenzy for groundwater in California
The drought in California may be thousands of miles away, but it’s having a direct effect on the rest of the country, including the Great Lakes region. As part of our Front & Center series, we’ll...
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After Water: Science, art and journalism around climate change
Join us as we focus on the future of the Great Lakes, in a way that is a little different for us. WBEZ's brought fiction writers and scientists together, then asked the writers to jump off from there,...
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Great Lakes racing to prepare for a new kind of oil spill
The U.S. Coast Guard’s Ninth District is in charge of protecting the maritime interests of the Great Lakes. Those interests include industries like shipping, fishing, and tourism that create billions...
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Ice stalls Great Lakes shipping season
For the second year in a row, the spring shipping season is off to a slow start. Ice still covers much of the lakes and most ports don’t expect to see international cargo ships for another two...
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Just another bull shark story
It’s the kind of “fact” that makes you blink and wonder if you read it correctly. The Global Shark Attack File, a listing of every documented shark attack in recent history, compiled by the non-profit...
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Mystery boat: Alone and idle in a waterlogged corner of Chicago
There is something incongruous, maybe even outlandish, about seeing a big rusty ship from a freeway in America’s Breadbasket.Have you ever seen it? The 620-foot vessel docked up on the Calumet River...
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Michigan tribes make efforts to save native language
The language that was spoken by Native American tribes in Michigan is nearing extinction in the state. Some communities have no fluent speakers; others have one or two elders who still speak...
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